Fwd: The Next Age of Discovery (WSJ May 8)

[Joel S. Berson]

At 5/11/2009 12:42 PM, Doug Harris wrote:
>Fascinating article.
>An exerpt:
>"The ancient Library of Alexandria in Egypt burned down in 48 B.C.,
>incinerating works by Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles; today, out
>of more than 120 plays by Sophocles, only seven survive.z"
>--
>Too bad the IX I I system wasn't in use there, then.

Another use of the irresponsible passive?  Although I suppose I must
concede the accidental active, rather than the deliberate:  "Julius
Caesar accidentally burned the library down when he set fire to his
own ships to frustrate Achillas' attempt to limit his ability to
communicate by sea."  [Wikipedia, "Library of Alexandria".]

Joel

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